Sheet-delivery apparatus.



G. S. WITHAM,-SR. & I. J. WITHAM. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS. APPLIGATION FILED' JUNI: 13,1912.

G. S. WITHAM, SR. & I. J.IWITHAM. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE13,1912.

1,086,741, Patented Feb.101,1914.

a' SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l z/ r 666. v K fig/wifi: QW e 13100 7. Mr/*rr y Zaza G. S. WITHAM, SR. 6L I. J. WITHAM. SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13,1912.

1,086,741. Petennea Feb.10,1914. s SHEETS-MEET s.

ce. a. M eef-JJM e,

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oTTrcE.

GEORGE S. WITHAM, SR., AND SAC J'. WITHAM, 0F HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THE UNION BAG & PAPER COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

SHEET-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

Specication of Letters Patent.l

Paf-enten Feb. 1o, 19M.

Application inea June 13, 1912. semi No. 703,388.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known thatwe, GEORGE S. WrrHAM, Sr., and ISAAC J. VVITHAM, citizens of the limited States. residing at Hudson Falls, New York. have invented certain neW and useful improvements in Sheet-Delivery Apparatus. of which the following is a clear, full. and exact description.

This invention relates to a feeding machine which in the present instance is intended to be used to feed stock to a second machine which may form plates or other articles from the blanks fed to it. .ln the preferred embodiment of the invention, a web of stock is-divided or cut into blanks and. these blanks are then delivered to the forming machine. ln feeding machines of this general type it has been customary to provide the stock in the form of a supply roll from which a web is drawn toward the forming machine. This web is cut in suit.- able lengths or blanks of stock which are then fed at the proper time, as for instance when the forming dies are presented to receive the blank. Vlhen the supply roll is eX- hausted itis necessary to set upa new supply roll of stock on the machine, and it has been heretofore necessary to thread the web of this new roll between the feeding rollers or other devices of the feeding machine.

A principal object of the present inventi'on is to provide a construction for the feeding machine which will enable two or more supplies of stock to be arranged ready for use, but only one of these supplies is actirol)Y in use at one time. An arrangement is proided, however, so that the web of the new supply of stock to be used may be partially drawn out or extended toward the forming machine. YVhen the active stock supply, which may be in the form of a roll, becomes exhausted, the feeding of the web from the new supply or roll begins Without stopping either the feeding mechanism or forming machine or causing any substantial delay. i

The invention further consists in the gen eral combination ofparts and simplicity of details hereinafter described, all of which contribute to produce an eilicient feeding machine.

A preferred embodiment of our invention will be particularly described in the following specification, While the broad` vScope of our invention will be pointedout in the appended claims.

ln the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a feeding machine embodying our improvements. in their preferred form; Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fie'. 3 is a .section upon an enlarged scale taken on the line 3.-3 of Fig. 2, and particularly illustrating the means for advancing the web of the fresh roll when the roll being used has become exhausted. This view also illustrates the operation ofthe knife which cuts the web into blanks; Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4--1 of Fig. 2. and illustrating the arrangement of the delivery belts which pass or throw the blank -from the feeding machine into the dies of the forming machine; Fig. 5 is a section taken about on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1, and

i'lustrating the means for controlling and varymg the speed of the delivery belts; Fig.

(i is a vertical section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1. and illust-rating the arrangement and operation of the knife-Which cuts the web into blanks; Fig. 7 is an elevation and partial section illustrating a. means for causing the advance of the Web of the fresh supply roll when the roll being used has become exhausted; and Fig. 8 is an end elevation of tl'e parts shown in Fig. 7, and shows cer' tain parts in section on the line 8-S of Fig. T.

lefcrring more particularly to the drawings. at one end of the frame 1 of the machine supply rolls 2 and fl are mounted ro-A tatably in av suitable bracket and held against shifting longitudinally by means of double guide-arms 4. As indicated in Fig.

2. these guide-arms are mounted on a vshaft 5 which enable them to be adjusted to suit rolls of different lengths. The roller 3, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is the active supply roll. and the web 6 thereof passes upwardly around a guide pulley 7, from which point it passes horizontally on a table 8. From this point it passes preferably through a special feeding device which may comprise two rolls 9 and 10; beyond this point it passes through a main feeding device Which may comprise rolls 11 and 12. The special rolls 9 and l0 are normally ineffective toadvance the Web, but'the rolls 11 and l2 are preferably arranged so that their adjacent 'surfaces constantly grip` one of 'the webslso the preferred form, this delivery device mayA coinln'ise rollers 15 and 16 with a plurality of endless belts 14 passing around them;

' and these belts are preferably arranged so 'iso that their adjacent runs 17 diverge toward their receiving end for a purpose to appear hereinafter. These belts are preferably formed of rubber or similar material. Between the special rolls 9 and 1() and the nia-in feed rolls 11 and l2. a removable table or shelfl 19 may be provided to support the web. 'lhe'web 20 of the new supply roll passes around suitable guide pulleys 21 and 22 and lies on top of the web 'T and the table and extends into the special feeding device. or between the special feed rolls 9 and 10 so that its end 23 may lie beyond the special feeding device. as at some point on the table 19, falling short of the main feeding device.

Itis to beunderstood that when we employ the rolls 9 and 10 they are preferably i normally separated, so that although they may be rotating constantly they do not grip the webs or tend to advance them. In order to enable the rolls 9 and 10 to come into active operation, we prefer to mount the shaft 24 of the roller 9 upon eccentric sleeves or bushings 25, as illustrated most clearly in Figs. 3 and 7. These bushings 25 are pref erably connected by a tie-rod 26 so that they move in unison, and one of the bushings is provided with means for rotating it, such as a rigid arm 27 which may be operated when desired by means of a link 27a connected with abell crank 28 and operated by lever 29, as illust-rated in Fig. 1.

The means for cutting the web into blanks may comprise a rotating knife 30 which is attached to the hub 31 of a bevel gear 32, which is driven continuously when the ma chine is in operation. From this arrangement the knife 30 moves in a plane at right angles to the path of the web, and at each revolution it passes the knife 13 on its downv stroke so as to sever the web at this point. In order to prevent injury from this knife in its upward movement, itl passes through a suitable guard 33. It should be understood that. the belts 14 are preferably run at a much higher speed than that of the web when it is severed by the knife, and for this reason it is necessary to prevent the belts 14 from pulling the end of the Web violently before the blank is severed. Inorder to accomplish this we prefer to separate the rollers 15 more fully from each other than the rollers 16, so that the receiving ends of the belts 14 form a diverging space or throat 34 in which the end of the web is received.

However, these belts 14 will grip the web yieldingly, and with suflicient force, that when the blank is severed they will advance it quickly to the forming machine.

The feeding devices may be driven in any desired manner. In order to accomplish this the forming machine may be provided with a large gear Wheel, a part of which is indicated at 35, meshing with a pinion 36 on a vertical shaft 37 mounted on the frame 1,

said vertical shaft being provided with a bevel gear connection 38 for driving a horizontal counter-shaft 39. This shaft 39 extends across to the other side of the frame, where itis provided with a gear 40 which drives a corresponding gear 41 on a secondy counter-shaft 42. The shaft 42 has a rigid sprocket wheel 43 over which a chain 44 passes upwardly so as to drive a sprocket wheel 45, said sprocket. wheel 45 being rigid with the gear Wheel 46 located. near the feed rolls. By means of an idler 47 the gear wheel 46 drives the gear 48, which is carried rigidly by the shaft of the lower main feed roller 12. This gear wheel 48 meshes with a similar gear wheel 49 rigidly mounted on the shaft of the upper main feed roller 11.l

. The rollers 9 and l0 are preferably driven continuously in unison by means such as meshing gear wheels 50 and 51, the latter of which is driven by an idler 52 which meshes with the aforesaid gear Wheel 46. The gear Wheels 50 and 51 are constantly in ymesh even when the shaft 24 of the roller 9 is raised to its highest possible position, so that these rollers 9 and 10 are constantly rotating although their faces do not normally pinch the web or webs lying between them. When it is desired to drive the feed rolls 11 and 12 at a higher or a. lower speed than that which will result from using the gear 46 of the size shown, the' gear 46 may be removed and replaced by another gear of a different diameter. plished the idler 47 will be replaced by an idler ofa different diameter. Any desired arrangement may be made for adjusting the center of the substituted idler such as that illustrated in respect to the .gear 52, however, which may consist in arranging the stud 53 of the gear in a slot 54 in the frame 1 and arranged to slide along in the slot so as to adapt the gear 52 to mesh with the driving gear which has been substituted for the gear 46.

In the present embodiment of our invention, the rollers 16 are driven from a hori- When'this is accomf changing the speed of driving theroller 16,

we prefer to make the pulleys 57 and 61 in the form ,of cones, as indicated in Fig. 5; and we provide a belt-'shifter 62 consisting of a nut or traveler 63 mounted on an adjusting-screw 64, which is adapted to be rotated by a crank 65. This nut 63 forms part of a carriage 66 which slides ona guide -bar 67. parallel with the shaft 64; This carriage is provided witharms or 'forks 68 which engage the edges of the belt 60. From this arrangement it will be evident that when the carriage- 66 is moved in either direction, it will shift the belt on the cone pulleys and change the relative speed of rotation of the cone pulleys. ln this way the speed of the delivery device is accelerated o-r retarded at will and independently of the speed of the rest of themachine.

The bevel gear 32 which drives the knife is driven-from a corresponding bevel gear wheel 68 mounted on the shaft of the upper main feed roller 11. The shafts of all the upper rollers, except the shaft 24, are held in boxes 69 which may be adjusted by adjusting screws 70. The boxl of shaft 24 is preferably fixed.

The general mode of operation of the present embodiment of our invention will now be briefly described. l

A web, such as the web 7 from the lower stock roll 3, is continuously advanced through the machine by the main feed rollers 11 and 12, or other main feeding mechanism. `While the revolving knife 30 is removed from the web, the web advances across the edge of the fixed knife 13 and advances into the throat 34 between the belts 14. At each downward stroke of the knife 30 a blank is severed from the web, and the delivery device comprising any means such as the belts 14, then advances the blank rapidly to the forming machine or other machine to whichl the feeding machine delivers. tionary at the point 28 and preferably in contact with the other, or moving web, lies between the rolls 9 and 10, which are nor-` mally inedective to advance the web. When it is desired to start the new web the special feeding device is rendered active. in the present instance, to do this the arm 29 is pulled upwardly into theposition in which it is indicated in Fig. 1. This will rotate the eccentric sleeves or bushings 25 and bring the shaft 24 of the roller 9 down suiiiciently to enable the roller 9 to pinch both webs; these rollers 9, 10 then coperate to advance both the webs until the end 23 of The web 2O with its end lying sta-` the web -20 passes between the rolls 11 and 12. The lever 29 can then be returned to its normal position. The operation of,chan ing from the-exhausted roller to a fres supply roller will result in forming av few plates of a double thickness of stock, but this fact is immaterial. As soon asthe machine has commenced to run with the new supply roll, the exhausted roll is then removed and a new supply `roll substituted therefor. The end of the web of this new supply roll is then extended throughV the special feedinv device* In the presentembodiment it f 1s passed around its proper guide rollers and along the table S, until its end lies between-the .special rolls 9`and 10 as indicated in Fig. 1. The guide pulleys 7 and 22 are arranged so that'they guide their corresponding websl along the upper surface of the table 8 as the webspass between the rolls S) and 10 of the special yfeed device, and hence adjacent the table 8 the guide means for the two webs have a common path, that is, the paths of. the two webs at this point are the same. This arrangement greatly facilitates the positioning of the loose end of the web of a fresh roll which is to be substituted for an exhausted roll. lf the roll` which is becoming exhausted is the roll 3, then the loose end from the roll 2 can be drawn around the pulleys 21 and 22 and laid upon the upper side of the web which is then running through the machine. The moving web from the roll'3 will then carry the loose end of the new roll forward sufficiently to bringit into a position such as that illustrated in Fig. 3, and in which it will lie between the rollers 9 and 10. ln a similar manner the loose end of the lower roll can be brought into position by passing it around the pulley 7 and then passing it between the moving web and the table or plate 8. lts movement across the table 8 and between the rollers 9 and 10 cannot be hindered in any way by the moving web, but may be facilitatedyby contact wlth the moving web. ln other words, the arrangement described enables a web which is being exhausted to assist in carrying the loose end of the next web into place between the rolls of the special feed device.

It should be understood that the ydelivery device which may include the belts 14, runs at a much higher speed than the web advances, so that the delivery device projects or throws the blank at the forming machine. The operatorcontrols this by moving the handle or crank 65 back and forth which. causes a speed change, as by shifting the belt 60 in either direction on the speed cones 57 and 61. The delivery device which includes the members 14 and their coperating parts, is covered by av separate copending application,y Serial rNo. 720,917, filed Sept. 18, 1912.

eva

ias

. It is also immaterial whether the stock be kept in J[he form of a roll.

`We do not limit ourselves to the form of n'lachine or the devices described or illustrated above, as they simply present only one of the many forms our invention may take.

What we claim as new is:

1.- ln a machine of the class described, in combination a special feed device arranged to be normally inactive, feeding'mechanism arranged to advance a web of stock through said special feed device, guiding means for guiding a web of stock into said special feed device, a second guiding means for guiding a second web into said special feed device, both said guiding means having a common path for the two Webs so that the loose end of one Web may lie in Contact with weaver the other web when being advanced` into said special feed device, and means for actuating said special feed device to advance both Webs simultaneously.

2. In a machine of the class described, in combination. a special feed device arranged to be normally inactive, feeding mechanism arranged to advance a web of stock through said special feed device, said special feed device comprising a pair of rolls normally separated and between which the Web of stock passes, a guide table disposed before said special feed device,xmeans for guiding two independent Webs across said table and between said rollers whereby one of the webs may draw forwardly the free end of the other web to bring the same into position between said rollers, and means for actuating said rollers to pinoli the loose end of the web and advance the same With the moving web.

igned at Hudson Falls, New York, this 11th day of June, 1912.

GEORGE S. VVITHAM, SR. ISAAC J. VIQIHAM.

Witnesses:

ROY C. Poor, A. E. SAWYER. 

